Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers is an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, that was founded in 1947 as the Minneapolis Lakers; it moved to LA in 1960. The Lakers' name came from the state of Minnesota, the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", and it relocated to California due to financial difficulties. Led by Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, the Lakers made it to the NBA Finals six times during the 1960s, but they lost each series to the Boston Celtics. In 1968, the Lakers acquired four-time MVP Wilt Chamberlain to play center, and they won their sixth NBA title in 1972. After Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain's retirements, the team acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as its new center, but the team failed to make the Finals in the late 1970s. During the 1980s, Magic Johnson led the team using the fast-break offense tactic, winning five championships in nine years; in 1985, the Lakers even managed to defeat the Celtics. Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar's retirements led to the team running into more trouble, but the arrival of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant in 1996 led to the team winning three consecutive Finals from 2000 to 2002, securing its second "three-peat". In 2009, it defeated the Orlando Magic in the Finals, followed by the Celtics the next year. The game won 33 straight games from 1971 to 1972, holding the longest winning streak in NBA history (as of December 2017).